Upgrade to PEX pipes in a double wide?

I recently helped my mother buy a used double-wide in a 55+ community. As part of the move, we of course had an inspection. The inspector observed that there were several places where there were previous ruptures that were patched, as well as damaged vapor barrier. (I'm told the plumbers cut that stuff open but don't put it back together. We also got a quote from a carpenter to fix up all the vapor barrier for $1k.) He recommended fixing the vapor barrier, as well as upgrading to PEX pipes prior to fixing the vapor barrier. (Since it would be dumb to fix vapor barrier only to rip it open for the PEX pipes, then fix it yet again.)

We started seeking out plumbers to give estimates to do this work. The first one estimated it would be about $4k and take him a week. I'm told by other people that's typical. While I was visiting Mom last week, I was crawling under the house and noticed the main line was leaking (slow trickle around the valve... looks like 2" black poly pipe wrapped with insulation and heat tape). So we called a different plumber and he came to look and will be fixing that this week. This plumber said don't bother upgrading to PEX pipes, just leave it the way it is and if anything ruptures, he'll fix it.

I'm not a plumber, but now I have 2 conflicting recommendations and I'm not sure which is good to do. My mother has no money to spare so money is tight and I'll end up paying for whatever is done. So, if we really don't need PEX pipes, we could could certainly use the money savings. However, if this is going to result in frequent ruptures, a mess of water and damaged vapor barrier, that doesn't sound good either.

So, does this sound good to do? She lives in Massachusetts and the house was built in 1985. I don't actually know what the existing pipes are made out of, since it is covered by vapor barrier. I can only see the incoming main line which is black poly, and I do see copper entering the living area near the washing machine, and oddly some gray plastic stuff (looks like PEX?) going up into the kitchen sink fixture. The plumber who was just here didn't know what was under there either, until he cuts it open.

Another question, why does the job cost this much and take a week? From what limited reading I've done about PEX pipes, it "sounds simple" with one line run all the way from the manifold to where it is needed with no joints in between. It's 2 full baths, kitchen sink, and a washer... so that's 12 pipes total? (2 to each of the 3 sinks, 2 to each of the 2 showers, plus 2 to the washer.) 12 long runs of pipe with a connection made on each end of it? Granted, I am NOT a plumber, so there may be a good reason for this, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Also, there's some heat tape under here but I'm not sure exactly where. Neither plumber wants to touch the heat tape. Can/should heat tape be put around PEX pipes? Note I'd expect nearly all the pipes to be located behind the vapor barrier, in case that helps answer the question any. (And no, I don't know what if any mechanism is down there to help send some of the furnace's hot air into the area where the pipes are. I guess that's a thing? I'm not well familiar with mobile home internals.)

That gray stuff if PB pipe. There was a class action suit and for a few years, they replaced with copper. Those days are over. Just replace with Pex, and never have problems again.

havasu said:

That gray stuff if PBP pipe. There was a class action suit and for a few years, they replaced with copper. Those days are over. Just replace with Pex, and never have problems again.

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Ha, good call... I did a search for PB pipe and that's what I see under the sink. I wonder how much of that there is.

I have an '84 double wide vacation home. I bought it in 1999. I realized that PB pipe was in my house in 2002 and called the PB claim number. They advised I was 6 months too late for a free repipe job. It cost me $4k, but the guy did a bunch more stuff included for that price.

I’d say two days max for a plumber with helper. This is based on two baths, one kitchen and a laundry. The trick is to just abandon everything and work from the bottom. Then insulate the runs.

FishScreener said:

I’d say two days max for a plumber with helper. This is based on two baths, one kitchen and a laundry. The trick is to just abandon everything and work from the bottom. Then insulate the runs.

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That's the thing though, the plumbers so far say they don't repair vapor barrier. (Maybe they'll just shove insulation back and leave it cut open?) We know a carpenter who will do it. Although, one stop shopping would be nice.

I think the plumber for the first estimate was going to do it himself. Would that explain a week? This seems like something best done by 2 plumbers though, one at each end of the pipe you're working with. Would they typically just abandon/leave the old pipes underneath, or cut them out and remove them? I'm guessing leave there? Which may be fine as long as no old pipes are left that I can see from any of the fixtures.

The plumber is there now... he says that gray stuff is polyurethane pipe. Which surprised me, because I did an search and all of it looks colorful, nothing gray. (I guess he could be incorrect. I'll examine the pipe closely next time I'm there to look for labeling.)

Anyway, the plumber found 3 more leaks under the house. Yeah... I think PEX might help here.

Maybe the plumber that said leave the old pipe and repair as needed , was looking for a steady source of service calls ?

Wyr
God bless

where you mom lives in mass make sure everything done is properly insulated/protected against new England winters all that work for nothing would stink!!!!!

WyrTwister said:

Maybe the plumber that said leave the old pipe and repair as needed , was looking for a steady source of service calls ?

Wyr
God bless

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Ha... yes, that thought did occur to me too, and could be correct.

You can keep pipes warm enough in winter with heat tape blah blah blah, or just put a few utility lights with a 70 or more watt incandescent bulb under there. NOT LED!!! OR CFL!!!
Switch them on when it gets cold enough to worry about.
Sometimes just a little fan keeps the air moving and mixing.
Or add a cheap but safe electric space heater with a thermostat set around 50 degrees.
Yes, these ideas are all cheap and dirty.
But sometimes that’s good enough.
Sorry if too sloppy of solutions!

Jeff Handy said:

You can keep pipes warm enough in winter with heat tape blah blah blah, or just put a few utility lights with a 70 or more watt incandescent bulb under there. NOT LED!!! OR CFL!!!
Switch them on when it gets cold enough to worry about.
Sometimes just a little fan keeps the air moving and mixing.
Or add a cheap but safe electric space heater with a thermostat set around 50 degrees.
Yes, these ideas are all cheap and dirty.
But sometimes that’s good enough.
Sorry if too sloppy of solutions!

Click to expand...

Something like that might be acceptable in a pinch, for a small section, for a brief period of time. But, pipes in a mobile home are supposed to be behind insulation and vapor barrier. So, there would be nothing for a light bulb to reach. Plus, the house must be 40 feet long. That's a lot of bulbs! From what I understand of this case, there should only be two pipes not covered by insulation and vapor barrier. The first is the incoming water supply... it comes up from the ground and straight up through the underside.... that's where I see some heat tape now. (If any more heat tape exists, I can't see it because it is covered.) The other is this pipe that goes to a series of pipes for the irrigation system. I haven't been able to get a good look at that yet, but obviously that would only need to be protected up to the valve that shuts it off. The plumber there the other day found that to be leaking and fixed it, so it looks like its protection from the cold is inadequate. In a week or so when I visit again, I'll crawl under there and see if I can figure out what's up with that.

I was just mentioning a quick and dirty solution to keep the air in what I imagined is a little crawlspace warmed up.
Definitely not snazzy or classy at all.
I just threw it out there as an idea, a goofy one I admit, but I have used it on an old house I had during some Polar Vortex type weather.
It really is not that relevant, so sorry for jumping in.

Yes get it repiped with PEX ASAP, get at least 3 different prices, check with the state licensing to confirm that whoever you want to do the work is Licensed, NO unresolved Complaints, get referrals from people that they have done work for